Heretofore, as vehicle brake devices, there is known a vehicle brake device provided with a hydraulic brake device that generates a base hydraulic pressure by a master cylinder in dependence on the stepping-on of a brake pedal and that applies the generated base hydraulic pressure directly to wheel cylinders of respective wheels which are in communication with the master cylinder through oil passages with hydraulic control valves provided thereon, to make the respective wheels generate a base hydraulic brake force corresponding to the base hydraulic pressure, and a regenerative brake force that makes some of the wheels generate a regenerative brake force. In the known vehicle brake device, the hydraulic brake device and the regenerative brake device are brought into cooperative operations to apply a vehicle brake force corresponding to the manipulation state of the brake pedal, to the vehicle based on the base hydraulic brake force and the regenerative brake force.
In the vehicle brake device, a port provided at a hydraulic chamber of the master cylinder and communicating with a reservoir tank is provided at a second position which is spaced from a first position where a closing end of a piston for closing the port is placed in a stepping-on start state being the stepping-on start state of the brake pedal, by a predetermined distance in a pressure increasing direction of the piston. The vehicle brake device is provided with a base hydraulic brake force generation restricting means for restricting the generation of the base hydraulic brake force while the closing end of the piston moves from the first position to the second position at the time of the stepping-on of the brake pedal, but for releasing the restriction on the generation of the base hydraulic brake force when the closing end of the piston moves beyond the second position.
In the vehicle brake device, the second position is provided based on a maximum regenerative brake force the regenerative brake device is able to generate. The vehicle brake device is constructed so that when the closing end of the piston is between the first position and the second position, a vehicle brake force corresponding to the manipulation state of the brake pedal is applied to the vehicle only by the regenerative brake force generated by the regenerative brake device, that when the closing end of the piston is at the second position, a vehicle brake force corresponding to the manipulation state of the brake pedal is applied to the vehicle by the maximum regenerative brake force the regenerative brake device is able to generate, and that when the closing end of the piston resides beyond the second position, a vehicle brake force corresponding to the manipulation state of the brake pedal is applied to the vehicle by the hydraulic brake force generated by the hydraulic brake device and the regenerative brake force generated by the regenerative brake device.